Bobby on a Bike

By Hadleigh Hares, Jul 18 2016 04:58PM

Day 1 Arrived Aldeburgh 4.30am like excited school kids.. Praying for tailwinds and sunshine, and maybe cake on the way.

It was very cold especially as I braved shorts. I had a puncture! How is that possible? Not even started and a puncture! The other riders got underway by police escort. I stayed back to fix my bike so the first 25 miles were making up for lost time. The sun started to shine, the roads were flat but we knew not to overdo it. A long ride ahead. Initially we were riding as a large group, but there came a touching of wheels. One rider crashed. He was lucky and fell into a field. He and bike all good. The route went near my house. My family met us with banners and cake for all riders. It was amazing. Carol, the best supporter in the world. To Hartest for lunch, sitting on the green in the sunshine, eating sandwiches and cake. Lovely. Onwards to Newmarket, fast and flat roads, beautiful countryside, and then Cambridge. This was a nightmare to get through, loads of traffic. So much for being biker friendly! 92 miles in the bag.

Day 2 Cambridge to Stratford upon Avon.

Weather perfect. 25 miles fast and flat to the first tea stop. We had an unscheduled stop at a shop called The Cake Shop. Well it would be rude not to. But the ride after was hard.

Lunch was great. More cakes! Then the hills started. One was 14%. The hill down was awesome and a new speed record for me of 43.6mph. The hills continued to come and roll but my legs felt good.

Day 3 was incredibly tough. Stratford upon Avon to Hay on Wye. 7500ft of climbing. The morning was beautiful, flat and fast, great spirits in the team. Then the hills came. And boy did they come again and again. Mental toughness, regular breaks and great support crew got us through. This was one of the hardest rides I have ever done. My legs were well and truly broken. I had little sleep, a bit emotional chatting to family

Day 4 90miles 7500ft of climbing. It was tipping it down and I felt couldn't ride. Everything hurt, and mentally I was on another planet. I decided to lead out, get my head down for the first climb. Well somehow I flew up the hill and my body and mind boom back in it. Got to the top. The rain was awful but we kept going for 25 miles and heard about a cake shop and pie shop in the next town, both to die for apparently. We spent the next 20 miles deciding pie or cake. We arrived in the town and had pie and coffee. Maybe rude not to try the cake shop, so we had cake too. The ride was stunning , around a reservoir and dams.

Then the wind kicked in. It was incredibly hard.. 10.5 mph was all we could manage. Really pushing, it was going to be a long ride. We arrived at the famous farmhouse climb about one mile long but so steep that the front wheel kept lifting up whilst sitting down, but spinning the rear whilst standing.

The final push was to Devils Bridge. We pushed to the top, the view was spectacular Dave and I crossed the line together. Two very happy chaps.That was just awesome!!